Teens clean up own mess

A GROUP of teenagers cleaned up Trowbridge Park on Sunday after being caught throwing paint around its pathways.

PCSO Matthew Till discovered the four girls and one boy, aged between 15 and 16, making a mess in front of the park’s bandstand, at around 3pm.

Wiltshire Police gave the teenagers the option of cleaning up the paint or being prosecuted.

Sergeant Jim Suter, based at Trowbridge Police Station, said: “Prosecuting children isn’t always the right thing to do. Making them clean it up lets them learn from the experience.

“I think they realised what they did was wrong as they were very respectful and very apologetic.”

Trowbridge Town Coun-cil, which oversees maintenance in the park, has praised Wiltshire Police for showing a common sense approach to the problem.

Bill Austin, the town council’s head of direct services, said: “They dealt with the problem promptly and saved public money.”

Last July, the town council took Trowbridge Park over from Wiltshire Coun-cil and, to improve visibility for those walking through to St Stephens Place Leisure Park, installed LED lights as part of a £40,000 project.

A new group called Friends of Trowbridge Park is meeting at Trow-bridge Civic Centre, at 6.30pm on Wednesday, to discuss further improvements for the park.

Mr Austin said: “I think this group is going to be hugely positive for the park and we are keen for more people to get involved.”

For more details of the meeting, call the town council on 01225 765072.